Rich: The magical romance of trains

Whenever Tink and I visit Greenwood, Mississippi, one of our favorite places, we stay at the small Alluvian Hotel.“Please, Denise,” I ask the front desk manager, “put us as close to the train as possible.”She laughs delightedly.“Miss Ronda, you’re the only person who ever wants the room nearest the...

Crane: Still time to ensure safer schools

It was the morning of Sept. 4, 2024, when Georgia’s deadliest school shooting was underway at Apalachee High School in Winder.Thanks to a recently upgraded school security system, a fast-acting school resource officer, and local law enforcement, the mass murder was halted at four fatalities, with...

Harris: Fixating on the first-born

Hey y’all, so I must start this week with a little confession.

Rich: The return

It happened the other night. He returned for the first time in 30 years.

Yarbrough: Tribute to one who made a better world

The late Jasper Dorsey, my former boss and mentor at Southern Bell, taught me a great deal about the business world, but he also taught me a great deal about life. One of the things he emphasized to me is that we must leave the world a better place than we found it.

Harris: Mayhem, motherhood and meetings

Most of you know me from growing up here in Greensboro, but some of you don’t. Let me introduce myself. I’m Heather Harris, a mom of two boys, 16 and almost 4; a wife of a local electrician/contractor of 19 years; and the advertising sales director here at Smith Communications.

Rich: One million words

One million words ago, I started this column.That’s a lot of stories to tell.Additionally, I have written eleven books, including one that was turned into a television movie and one that is closing in on its 50th printing.Those books would add, roughly, another 800,000 words of characters and...

Yarbrough: Thoughts about fathers on their special day

This coming Sunday is Father’s Day. I thought I would get a head start on the topic since I happen to be a father, had a great father of my own, sired one who, in turn, sired one, and not to be outdone, a daughter who managed to produce one as well.

Rich: Brent’s extraordinary father

Brent’s birth, when he joined his sister, Laurie, and brother, Jay, on an Autumn day, was joyous.Brent, looking straight into his mother’s eyes, smiled with an abundance of sweetness.

Yarbrough: Make parents responsible for school absenteeism

Just what the world needs: more legislative study committees. At last count, the state Senate has 18 and there are 16 in the state House of Representatives.